Theater Talk

September 24, 2013

Jersey Boys has become an unexpected career for Richard Hester.
Hester, production supervisor for the national tour that continues through Sunday at the Ohio
Theatre, began working on the musical well before it became a Broadway hit and the 2006 Tony winner
for best musical.
"For us, it was just a summer job near the beach," Hester said.
"The expectations for it weren’t high at all, because it came at a period when so called
jukebox musicals were closing left right and center," Hester said.

A scene from
Jersey Boys on tour. File photo

Based on the true life story of the ups and downs of the New Jersey-born vocal quartet
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, the musical had its try-out at the La Jolla Playhouse in La
Jolla, Calif.
Later that same year,
Jersey Boys opened to rave reviews Nov. 6, 2005 at New York’s August Wilson Theatre –
where it is still playing to crowds after more than 3,260 performances, making it the 15
th-longest run (soon to become the 13
th longest after it surpasses the runs of
Grease and
42
nd Street) in Broadway history.

The success of Jersey Boys stems from the way it ties the group’s Top 40
parade of songs to a gripping and surprisingly gritty story about their struggles – both before
they had their first big hit,
Sherry, and well afterwards.
"By the time we get to
Sherry (about 40 minutes into the first act), you are so ready for it because you know how
hard these guys have struggled," Hester said.
"You can experience the success with them as you never would if it had happened earlier in
the show."
Like the boys who have played the title role in the musical
Billy Elliot, the young men cast as Valli have a big job to do.
"It’s so difficult to do this part and keep yourself vocally healthy," Hester said.
In fact, the vocal demands of the songs (from
Sherry and
Stay to
C’mon Marianne, Can’t Take My Eyes Off You and
Working My Way Back to You) are so great that the producers no longer allow actors cast as
falsetto-voiced Frankie Valli to perform more than once a day or more than six performances a week.
(Another actor alternates on tour for the other two weekly shows.)
"We want to protect them," Hester said.
"A few can do it, but even they can’t do it for any length of time."

A scene from the national tour of the musical
Jersey Boys. File photo

One lesson that Nick Cosgrove has learned from the tour: "Pace yourself."
Actors cast as Valli don’t leave the stage in the second act, making it close to a marathon.
"They have little tricks to help us," said Cosgrove, who performs as Valli six shows a week
in Columbus. (Hayden Milanes plays the role at the Tuesday evening and Sunday matinee shows.)
"They place water in certain scenes. There’s real water in that cup in the diner because I
haven’t been able to leave the stage," Cosgrove said.
To find enough actor-singers with the ability to sing like Valli for even as much as six
shows a week on Broadway, in Las Vegas and on the various national tours, Hester supervises a
recurrent three-day training camp in New York. He dubs it Frankie Camp.
"It’s a chance for extensive work with all the production supervisors," Cosgrove said.
Along with about nine other guys, Cosgrove attended the Frankie Camp held in February 2011 in
New York.
"The first day I worked on the vocal stuff, the second day we worked on the scenes from the
show and on the third day, we worked on the choreography," Cosgrove said.

Actors practice their moves and vocals at a recent Frankie Camp. File photo

While finding a good Frankie remains challenging, the task has become
slightly easier because
Jersey Boys has become so well-known, Hester said.
"When we first started, it was next to impossible to find guys to play Frankie, but now these
guys are coming to adulthood seeing this role and they work on it themselves for years before we
see them," Hester said.
"It’s a little like test-driving a car," Hester said.
"At the Frankie camps, we see what it’s like working with these guys, and see if they’re
somebody we think it’s worth continuing with."

Auditions are held about every six months, as part of broader auditions
for all the show’s roles, and allow the creative team to compile a list of 100 to 120 actors who
might be capable of tackling the demanding role.
"We find potential Frankies who seem to have some of the characteristics we need."
Hester often asks actors to read a scene as the older Frankie.
"Since most are young, we need to see if it’s even possible that they’ll be believable,"
Hester said.
After testing their singing and dancing abilities as well, the creative team whittles down
the candidates to anywhere from six to 10 actors who are invited to train at the next Frankie Camp.
"We put them through an intensive week of work with a vocal coach, an acting coach and a
dance coach," he said.
Usually, by the end of each camp, Hester and his creative team have found two or three
performers that they want to move on to the next level.
But even some who don’t make the grade at first still might have a chance.
"Some guys we say are too young," Hester said, "but let’s see them again in two years to see
how they are."

September 18, 2013

Central Ohioans take pride in the performing-arts career of Michael
Feinstein.
Naturally so: The Columbus native, who as a teenager got his show-biz start performing at
Gallery Players, has established an enviable career as a singer-pianist dedicated to the
presentation and preservation of the Great American Songbook.
Feinstein tours the country to perform, has appeared several times on Broadway, released more
than a dozen albums and won five Grammy Awards.
For his work celebrating American musical-theater songs (especially the Gerhswins, with whom
he has a special lifelong relationship), Feinstein received a Drama Desk Special Award in 1988. And
his work in this area has only expanded since, as reflected in his thoughtful and revealing 2012
memoir,
The Gershwins and Me: A Personal History in 12 Songs.
But Feinstein is doing a lot more than you may know. In fact, he’s been in the news a
lot lately.

September 11, 2013

Erik Sternberger finds it easy to relate to his central role in
The :nv:s:ble Play, which continues through Saturday in an area premiere at MadLab
Theatre.
"I get where Colin is coming from," Sternberger said.
The actor, 34, is the same age as Colin and has experienced a little bit of office life – the
focus of Alex Dremann’s two-act play about co-workers toiling away in various degrees of social
invisibility.
Currently in marketing as a writer of iPad applications for pharmaceutical companies,
Sternberger formerly worked for six years at an office building near Polaris.
"When you first start with a company, it’s new and fresh, but over time, you start seeing the
cycles like the ones that happen in a long-term relationship, and you can get numb to that,"
Sternberger said.

Erik Sternberger as Colin, left to right, with Chad Hewitt as Tim and Megan Corbin as Nancy
in the MadLab Theatre production of
The :nv:s:ble Play. Photo credit: Andy Batt

Dremann’s comic drama revolves around Colin, who fades into invisibility
at a publishing company for books about existentialism.
"Colin is the closest to myself that I’ve played as an actor," Sternberger said.
"He's the typical office drone who’s been at the company long enough that’s he numb to pretty
much everything. It’s a battle for him to get back to feeling something. He doesn’t believe in
anything, but knows that something is missing from his life."
When his last friend at the office is let go, Colin begins to vanish.
"He feels as if something isn’t quite right," Sternberger said.
"It becomes more of a struggle for him to get people to notice him – until they don’t notice
him at all."

Erik Sternberger as Colin, left to right, with Katharine Pilcher as Fran in MadLab Theatre’s
production of
The :nv:s:ble Play Photo credit: Andy Batt

Colin initially longs for a romantic relationship with Fran, another
co-worker. But she doesn’t notice him – partly because he approaches her indirectly, through email
and voice mail.
"That doesn’t work because no one knows you if you only communicate that way," Sternberger
said.
Eventually, Colin’s experiences force him to ponder serious questions about love, life and
the nature of reality.
Sternberger views the two-act play as a satirical comedy, with Colin as the straight man for
everyone else’s jokes.
Faced with Colin’s metaphoric situation, most people in real life have the choice to either
draft into the scenery or strike out and go for something new, he said.
"A lot of us fall into Colin’s safer pattern," Sternberger said.
"It may be safer day in and day out, but in the long run it’s not as healthy or happy for
people."

IF YOU GO
The :nv:s:ble PlayMadLab Theatre, 227 N. 3rd St.
Contact: 614-221-5418,
www.madlab.netShowtimes: 8 p.m. Friday Sept. 13 and Saturday and Sept. 14
Tickets: $12, $10 for students and senior citizens, $8 for MadLab members

September 05, 2013

Every night in
Totem, Olli Torkkel flies above the crowd on the aerial rings.
The Finnish gymnast is one of 46 international acrobats, actors, singers and musicians from
15 countries in the Cirque du Soleil touring production, which continues through Sept. 15 at the
Ohio Expo Center.
"The cool part is transforming those skills into tricks in the circus," Torkkel said.
"Everything looks – and is – hard and difficult, but we add a little spike of entertainment
to it, swinging and flying 30 feet above the audience."